Where to watch Blue Velvet (1986)
Blue Velvet is available to stream in US on Hoopla, Tubi TV and The Roku Channel. It can also be rented or bought from AppleTV.
After finding a severed ear in a field, a curious young man begins investigating a mystery tied to a nightclub singer and dangerous criminals. His search draws him beneath the cheerful surface of his small town and into a disturbing, perilous world of violence, secrecy, and obsession.
Cast: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange, Dean Stockwell, George Dickerson, Priscilla Pointer, Frances Bay, Jack Harvey, Ken Stovitz, Brad Dourif
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Trivia & production notes
- David Lynch conceived the film's story from three separate ideas that came together over time: a feeling and the title, an image of a severed ear in a field, and Bobby Vinton's 1963 rendition of 'Blue Velvet' along with its nostalgic mood.
- Lynch negotiated a deal with producer Dino De Laurentiis for a $6 million budget in exchange for taking a pay cut, which gave him complete artistic freedom and final cut privileges on what became the smallest film in De Laurentiis's slate.
- Lynch originally shot a four-hour rough cut before being contractually obligated to deliver a two-hour film to De Laurentiis, requiring significant cuts to subplots and character scenes.
- Filming a scene with a raped and battered Dorothy drew picnic-basket-wielding townspeople to the set, prompting Wilmington police to ban Lynch from shooting in any public areas of the city afterward.
- Isabella Rossellini's talent agency dropped her immediately after test screenings, and nuns from her former Rome school called to say they were praying for her following the film's completion.
- Lynch met Isabella Rossellini at a restaurant and offered her the Dorothy Vallens role, even though Helen Mirren had been his first choice for the part.
- Val Kilmer turned down a role in the film because he found the material too graphic, a decision he later came to regret.
- Dennis Hopper was Lynch's third choice for the role of Frank, with the part originally written for Michael Ironside, but Hopper enthusiastically accepted by reportedly exclaiming 'I've got to play Frank! I am Frank!'
- Laura Dern, then 18 years old, was cast as Sandy after more established actresses including Molly Ringwald turned down the role, and she dropped out of UCLA two days into her psychology program to work on the film.
- Lynch cut a scene where Frank slaps Dorothy to satisfy MPAA concerns about violence, replacing it with a shot of Jeffrey wincing in the closet, a change Lynch felt actually made the moment more disturbing.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article Blue Velvet (film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.
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